Bryan is the son of John and Missouri (Hancks) Keeney.
Bryan's little sister, Rita, remembered Bryan as the nicest of nice brothers. On snowy school days, Bryan would set Rita and sister Myrtle on the back of a horse and lead them to and from school.
Bryan was inducted at Jefferson Barracks Missouri on August 17, 1917.
Private Keeney would serve during World War I in the 54th Infantry Regiment,6th Division and in the 18th Machinegun Battalion, 6th Division from July 7, 1918 to August 3, 1919.
During one of the Divisions famous forced marches to various battlefields, Bryan was hit by a supply truck, injuring his foot. The foot would cause him pain and force him to walk on the side of his foot for years after the war. In his older years surgery was performed at the VA hospital. The procedure was successful and Bryan could walk normally.
After the war, in 1921, Bryan would marry his wife Daisy Lillian Wilson.
Daisy and Bryan's first child died at birth (Mar 1 1923). Daisy and Bryan's second child is Maxine Helen (Keeney) Ringhoffer (May 30, 1924 - Jul 14, 1992).
Not much is known about Private Keeney's experiences during the Great War (as it was called until World War II came along). The following is a brief history of 6th Division's World War I history:
After marching and training all over western France, the Sixth was sent into the trenches on August 31, 1918, in the Vosges sector of France. There, a chain of high wooded hills had stalemated both the French and German armies. The Sixth's mission was to defend a 21-mile section of the front lines. The Division engaged in active patrolling of No Man's Land and the German lines.
The infantryman's life consisted of German snipers, artillery barrages, and poison gas shells. Digging out damaged portions of the trench line was a continuous part of living in cold dugouts and wet trenches. In addition, there was the concern of German attacks.
The Division developed a hard won reputation for fast, long-distance marching when, prior to the Argonne Offensive, it engaged in extensive diversionary marches, often under enemy artillery and air bombardment, to deceive the Germans into thinking a major attack was to take place in the Vosges sector.
On October 10, 1918, the Sixth was pulled out of Vosges and sent into reserve lines near the Argonne Forest, moving over mountains and broken trails, usually in the dead of night.
After another short period of training, the Division hiked itself into the closing campaign of the war, the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The 6th was used in place of an unavailable cavalry division to maintain contact with the rapidly retreating Germans. Pulling machine-gun carts and ammo caissons by hand, the Division marched on muddy roads and rain-soaked fields, to continue contact with a retreating enemy. Finally, the division moved to another sector of the front to hold the brunt of a German attack. The 6th reached the assigned area on the scheduled date, November 12, 1918, to find the war at an end.
During its three months at the front, the 6th Division lost 386 men killed, wounded and missing. It maintained an active defense in one important sector and played a major role in the tactical plan in another. The Division was highly commended by General Pershing for its contribution to the ending of the war.
After the Armistice, the 6th continued its hikes through France and Germany to spread the fame of the six-point Red Star, adopted as the Division insignia on November 19, 1918.
Bryan's little sister, Rita, remembered Bryan as the nicest of nice brothers. On snowy school days, Bryan would set Rita and sister Myrtle on the back of a horse and lead them to and from school.
Bryan was inducted at Jefferson Barracks Missouri on August 17, 1917.
Private Keeney would serve during World War I in the 54th Infantry Regiment,6th Division and in the 18th Machinegun Battalion, 6th Division from July 7, 1918 to August 3, 1919.
During one of the Divisions famous forced marches to various battlefields, Bryan was hit by a supply truck, injuring his foot. The foot would cause him pain and force him to walk on the side of his foot for years after the war. In his older years surgery was performed at the VA hospital. The procedure was successful and Bryan could walk normally.
After the war, in 1921, Bryan would marry his wife Daisy Lillian Wilson.
Daisy and Bryan's first child died at birth (Mar 1 1923). Daisy and Bryan's second child is Maxine Helen (Keeney) Ringhoffer (May 30, 1924 - Jul 14, 1992).
Not much is known about Private Keeney's experiences during the Great War (as it was called until World War II came along). The following is a brief history of 6th Division's World War I history:
After marching and training all over western France, the Sixth was sent into the trenches on August 31, 1918, in the Vosges sector of France. There, a chain of high wooded hills had stalemated both the French and German armies. The Sixth's mission was to defend a 21-mile section of the front lines. The Division engaged in active patrolling of No Man's Land and the German lines.
The infantryman's life consisted of German snipers, artillery barrages, and poison gas shells. Digging out damaged portions of the trench line was a continuous part of living in cold dugouts and wet trenches. In addition, there was the concern of German attacks.
The Division developed a hard won reputation for fast, long-distance marching when, prior to the Argonne Offensive, it engaged in extensive diversionary marches, often under enemy artillery and air bombardment, to deceive the Germans into thinking a major attack was to take place in the Vosges sector.
On October 10, 1918, the Sixth was pulled out of Vosges and sent into reserve lines near the Argonne Forest, moving over mountains and broken trails, usually in the dead of night.
After another short period of training, the Division hiked itself into the closing campaign of the war, the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The 6th was used in place of an unavailable cavalry division to maintain contact with the rapidly retreating Germans. Pulling machine-gun carts and ammo caissons by hand, the Division marched on muddy roads and rain-soaked fields, to continue contact with a retreating enemy. Finally, the division moved to another sector of the front to hold the brunt of a German attack. The 6th reached the assigned area on the scheduled date, November 12, 1918, to find the war at an end.
During its three months at the front, the 6th Division lost 386 men killed, wounded and missing. It maintained an active defense in one important sector and played a major role in the tactical plan in another. The Division was highly commended by General Pershing for its contribution to the ending of the war.
After the Armistice, the 6th continued its hikes through France and Germany to spread the fame of the six-point Red Star, adopted as the Division insignia on November 19, 1918.
Bryan is the son of John and Missouri (Hancks) Keeney.
Bryan's little sister, Rita, remembered Bryan as the nicest of nice brothers. On snowy school days, Bryan would set Rita and sister Myrtle on the back of a horse and lead them to and from school.
Bryan was inducted at Jefferson Barracks Missouri on August 17, 1917.
Private Keeney would serve during World War I in the 54th Infantry Regiment,6th Division and in the 18th Machinegun Battalion, 6th Division from July 7, 1918 to August 3, 1919.
During one of the Divisions famous forced marches to various battlefields, Bryan was hit by a supply truck, injuring his foot. The foot would cause him pain and force him to walk on the side of his foot for years after the war. In his older years surgery was performed at the VA hospital. The procedure was successful and Bryan could walk normally.
After the war, in 1921, Bryan would marry his wife Daisy Lillian Wilson.
Daisy and Bryan's first child died at birth (Mar 1 1923). Daisy and Bryan's second child is Maxine Helen (Keeney) Ringhoffer (May 30, 1924 - Jul 14, 1992).
Not much is known about Private Keeney's experiences during the Great War (as it was called until World War II came along). The following is a brief history of 6th Division's World War I history:
After marching and training all over western France, the Sixth was sent into the trenches on August 31, 1918, in the Vosges sector of France. There, a chain of high wooded hills had stalemated both the French and German armies. The Sixth's mission was to defend a 21-mile section of the front lines. The Division engaged in active patrolling of No Man's Land and the German lines.
The infantryman's life consisted of German snipers, artillery barrages, and poison gas shells. Digging out damaged portions of the trench line was a continuous part of living in cold dugouts and wet trenches. In addition, there was the concern of German attacks.
The Division developed a hard won reputation for fast, long-distance marching when, prior to the Argonne Offensive, it engaged in extensive diversionary marches, often under enemy artillery and air bombardment, to deceive the Germans into thinking a major attack was to take place in the Vosges sector.
On October 10, 1918, the Sixth was pulled out of Vosges and sent into reserve lines near the Argonne Forest, moving over mountains and broken trails, usually in the dead of night.
After another short period of training, the Division hiked itself into the closing campaign of the war, the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The 6th was used in place of an unavailable cavalry division to maintain contact with the rapidly retreating Germans. Pulling machine-gun carts and ammo caissons by hand, the Division marched on muddy roads and rain-soaked fields, to continue contact with a retreating enemy. Finally, the division moved to another sector of the front to hold the brunt of a German attack. The 6th reached the assigned area on the scheduled date, November 12, 1918, to find the war at an end.
During its three months at the front, the 6th Division lost 386 men killed, wounded and missing. It maintained an active defense in one important sector and played a major role in the tactical plan in another. The Division was highly commended by General Pershing for its contribution to the ending of the war.
After the Armistice, the 6th continued its hikes through France and Germany to spread the fame of the six-point Red Star, adopted as the Division insignia on November 19, 1918.
Bryan's little sister, Rita, remembered Bryan as the nicest of nice brothers. On snowy school days, Bryan would set Rita and sister Myrtle on the back of a horse and lead them to and from school.
Bryan was inducted at Jefferson Barracks Missouri on August 17, 1917.
Private Keeney would serve during World War I in the 54th Infantry Regiment,6th Division and in the 18th Machinegun Battalion, 6th Division from July 7, 1918 to August 3, 1919.
During one of the Divisions famous forced marches to various battlefields, Bryan was hit by a supply truck, injuring his foot. The foot would cause him pain and force him to walk on the side of his foot for years after the war. In his older years surgery was performed at the VA hospital. The procedure was successful and Bryan could walk normally.
After the war, in 1921, Bryan would marry his wife Daisy Lillian Wilson.
Daisy and Bryan's first child died at birth (Mar 1 1923). Daisy and Bryan's second child is Maxine Helen (Keeney) Ringhoffer (May 30, 1924 - Jul 14, 1992).
Not much is known about Private Keeney's experiences during the Great War (as it was called until World War II came along). The following is a brief history of 6th Division's World War I history:
After marching and training all over western France, the Sixth was sent into the trenches on August 31, 1918, in the Vosges sector of France. There, a chain of high wooded hills had stalemated both the French and German armies. The Sixth's mission was to defend a 21-mile section of the front lines. The Division engaged in active patrolling of No Man's Land and the German lines.
The infantryman's life consisted of German snipers, artillery barrages, and poison gas shells. Digging out damaged portions of the trench line was a continuous part of living in cold dugouts and wet trenches. In addition, there was the concern of German attacks.
The Division developed a hard won reputation for fast, long-distance marching when, prior to the Argonne Offensive, it engaged in extensive diversionary marches, often under enemy artillery and air bombardment, to deceive the Germans into thinking a major attack was to take place in the Vosges sector.
On October 10, 1918, the Sixth was pulled out of Vosges and sent into reserve lines near the Argonne Forest, moving over mountains and broken trails, usually in the dead of night.
After another short period of training, the Division hiked itself into the closing campaign of the war, the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The 6th was used in place of an unavailable cavalry division to maintain contact with the rapidly retreating Germans. Pulling machine-gun carts and ammo caissons by hand, the Division marched on muddy roads and rain-soaked fields, to continue contact with a retreating enemy. Finally, the division moved to another sector of the front to hold the brunt of a German attack. The 6th reached the assigned area on the scheduled date, November 12, 1918, to find the war at an end.
During its three months at the front, the 6th Division lost 386 men killed, wounded and missing. It maintained an active defense in one important sector and played a major role in the tactical plan in another. The Division was highly commended by General Pershing for its contribution to the ending of the war.
After the Armistice, the 6th continued its hikes through France and Germany to spread the fame of the six-point Red Star, adopted as the Division insignia on November 19, 1918.
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